Working from home? Bake bread.

[yoink 321]

Baking bread is easy and really tasty. I recently came up with a simple, 1-day bread that was fantastic. The only thing it really takes is time and we've probably all got more of that available right now, so give this a go.

I've broken this down to be as simple to understand as possible so don't be put off by the wall of text.

 

Ingredients:

1000g (2.2lb) Flour. If you can get it use strong bread flour, if not, all purpose is fine.

720g (720ml) (24.3floz) warm water.

10g (0.35oz) dried fast-acting yeast

10g (0.35oz) sugar

22g (0.78oz) salt

 

1 - In a big bowl mix the flour and water roughly.

2 - Leave this dough at room temperature for 45 minutes.

3 - Add the sugar, salt and yeast to the dough and mix really well. I use a kitchen mixer with a dough hook for 5 mins on low, but you can absolutely do this by hand. The dough is doing to be very wet and sticky, so I'd advise using a stout silicone spatula, or if you want to get your hands into it, keep a bowl of warm water nearby. Wet your hands often and the dough won't stick to you.

4 - Put the dough back into the big bowl if you took it out for mixing, cover with a clean towel or lid, and leave it somewhere warm (about 70 to 80 is ideal) for 2 hours. It'll really expand.

5 - Take the cover off the aerated dough and using your spatula knock it back down. Basically give it a really good mix again.

6 - Get 2 more largish bowls ready and dust the inside with flour. I sometimes wipe a little oil inside the bowl to help the flour coat them.

7 - This is where it gets a little messy. I use a 48x48 glazed floor tile, but you can use your countertop or stove top. Anything large flat and clean. Dust the surface really well with flour and scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the surface. Divide into 2 using a large knife that has been wet. 

This dough will be ultra sticky and quite fluid so don't be afraid of rewetting your knife and doing it in small steps.

8 - Wet your hands in warm water, and then pull the edge of one of the dough-splats up and away, then fold it back on top of itself. Try to only use your fingertips and keep them moist to avoid getting covered in dough. Do this about a dozen times and then lift or scrape the dough into one of your prepared bowls.

9 - Repeat for the other dough-puddle.

10 - Cover the bowls with a clean towel and leave at room temperature for 1:45hr. After an hour, turn your oven on to 420 degrees and put two saucepans with lids in there to warm up. I use ones that are about 7 inches in diameter, and 4.5in tall.

11 - After your 1.45hr is up, take your first pan out of the oven. BE CAREFUL! Hot. Pour the dough from one bowl into the pan trying to be careful with it. Use a spatula to release the dough from the sides if it's sticking. You don't need to baby it, but don't drop it into the pan from height either. Stick the lid back on (CAREFUL! HOT!) and put the pan back into the oven.

12 - Repeat for the other pan and dough ball.

13 - Bake for 30 mins then turn the heat down to 385, remove the bread from the pans and put directly onto the rack and bake for a further 25 mins.

 

This sounds harder than it is, but you should give it a try. I promise you won't be dissapointed.

Once you've done this one you can give the 2-day bakes a go for even more flavor.

 

[BIGUN 1,450]

6 hours ago, yoink said:

Baking bread

I would say 99% of my cooking is done my assortment of cast iron ware. Breads, cobblers and most of all - one pan dinners. I use a teflon pan for eggs and stainless steel for tomato-based sauces though. Just like a carpenter; right tool for the right job. Soon as I get a new cast iron something; I'll go out to the garage and grind it smooth on the inside bottom. Season it a few times with bacon grease to get it good hard and to get it slick. 

One of my favorite cooks to watch on youtube is Kent Rollins out of Oklahoma. He does everything is cast iron. For cast iron breads, Steve Gamelin got me started and now its like second nature to do something more creative.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4DQLB7_U1Q

 

[yoink 321]

2 hours ago, BIGUN said:

I would say 99% of my cooking is done my assortment of cast iron ware. Breads, cobblers and most of all - one pan dinners. I use a teflon pan for eggs and stainless steel for tomato-based sauces though. Just like a carpenter; right tool for the right job. Soon as I get a new cast iron something; I'll go out to the garage and grind it smooth on the inside bottom. Season it a few times with bacon grease to get it good hard and to get it slick. 

One of my favorite cooks to watch on youtube is Kent Rollins out of Oklahoma. He does everything is cast iron. For cast iron breads, Steve Gamelin got me started and now its like second nature to do something more creative.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4DQLB7_U1Q

 

I like cast iron and have a couple of really nice skillets and griddles, but they are a bit unwieldy. A couple of years ago I treated myself to a set of Le Cruset pans with a non-stick finish. Just like their cast iron stuff these things are indestructable in normal use, but are much easier to use and clean. I'm really happy with them.

 

I'm surprised by the no-knead technique. That goes against everything I know about forming gluten structure in bread. I imagine you'd end up with quite a cakey texture. I'll have to give it a go to see.

 

I will say that I hate cups and spoons as a measuring system for a compressible solid like flour or sugar. You can get 20% difference in a cup of flour depending how settled it is. That can make a huge difference in baking.

Edited March 20, 2020 by yoink

[BIGUN 1,450]

11 hours ago, yoink said:

Le Cruset pans

I bought a similar set, but in the Calphalon. I screwed it up though. Even though they say it's "Dishwasher Safe;" it's not. After about six months the outside coating started to wear off and once it started there was no stopping it. 

I like to cook and try new things, but not having much of a sweet tooth never really bothered with cakes and stuff. I like to make a good heart-healthy dinner. We don't use processed or packaged food. In part, I think (IMO) there's too many preservatives along each step in the food chain. We're fortunate in being able to go to the local Farmers Market for fresh everything and about the only thing I'll use from a package is pasta. 

To your point of measuring - that's one of the reasons I like Kent Rollins. He'll pour dry ingredients in his hand while saying "'bout a teaspoon and a half" that looks right about there. His other saying is, "You can't get full on fancy."      

Tonight, I'm thinking beef stroganoff before it gets too warm outside and flip to a much lighter fare in the Spring. 

EDIT: And your bread looks awesome. I'd tear me off a chunk, throw a bit of butter on it and go to town. 

EDIT2: Doc just told me something last night that cracked me up. "About half of us are going to come out of this coronavirus as drunks and the other half as great cooks, but very few will come out both."

Edited March 20, 2020 by BIGUN

[wmw999 2,565]

A couple of things (I used to make the NY Times no-knead bread all the time, until we moved to a town with an incredible local bakery).

1. The King Arthur Flour weight-volume chart (so you can bake using grams, because you're right about flour): https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart

2. The official NY Times no-knead bread (yours is a version of this, and it makes an incredible crust, all right -- but the more whole wheat in it, the less chewy the crust for us, unfortunately). The recipe link is from King Arthur Flour, because I don't know if the NY Times recipes are behind the paywall -- we subscribe, so we see them.

• Recipe
•  Video

Wendy P.

[BIGUN 1,450]

35 minutes ago, wmw999 said:

NY Times recipes are behind the paywall

I can see them. It would appear the recipes for "no-knead" are similar; just a bit of difference in technique. As mentioned earlier, I like Steve Gamelin's approach, not so much wait time (12 hours) and he does a ton of recipes with no-knead including cinnamon bun/rolls.  

[wmw999 2,565]

Ooh. Cinnamon rolls. I might gain a lot of weight.

Wendy P.

[BIGUN 1,450]

9 minutes ago, wmw999 said:

I might gain a lot of weight.

Mentioned earlier - not partial to the sweets, but his mediterranean olive bread is evil.  

[yoink 321]

2 hours ago, BIGUN said:

I bought a similar set, but in the Calphalon. I screwed it up though. Even though they say it's "Dishwasher Safe;" it's not. After about six months the outside coating started to wear off and once it started there was no stopping it. 

I like to cook and try new things, but not having much of a sweet tooth never really bothered with cakes and stuff. I like to make a good heart-healthy dinner. We don't use processed or packaged food. In part, I think (IMO) there's too many preservatives along each step in the food chain. We're fortunate in being able to go to the local Farmers Market for fresh everything and about the only thing I'll use from a package is pasta. 

To your point of measuring - that's one of the reasons I like Kent Rollins. He'll pour dry ingredients in his hand while saying "'bout a teaspoon and a half" that looks right about there. His other saying is, "You can't get full on fancy."      

Tonight, I'm thinking beef stroganoff before it gets too warm outside and flip to a much lighter fare in the Spring. 

EDIT: And your bread looks awesome. I'd tear me off a chunk, throw a bit of butter on it and go to town. 

EDIT2: Doc just told me something last night that cracked me up. "About half of us are going to come out of this coronavirus as drunks and the other half as great cooks, but very few will come out both."

I used to like Calphalon stuff but their quality seems to have gone downhill over the last 7-8 years. I'v had pans of theirs warp like a cheap tin one. V. dissapointing.

I'm like you. Given the choice between an appetizer or dessert I'd take the appetizer every time. Bread is about the only baking I do. Stroganoff sounds good. I think I'm probably tossing some ribs to smoke on the grill today.